Or a part time COO was brought in to aid in the revamping of this be to be software delivery company through improving its order fulfilment efficiency.

Company Profile

This company, reaching half the UK’s population, offers a B2B software product. Despite strong sales and a substantial order backlog, operations lagged, causing customer delays in migration, installation, set-up, and on-boarding, sometimes exceeding six months.

CEO’s Mission

The CEO aimed to expedite the order backlog, recognizing revenue to meet quarterly targets and retain patient customers. They sought to overhaul the process guiding order fulfilment efficiency and gain better insights for revenue and budget forecasting. The team, stagnant in its old methods, needed a fresh vision and approach to make operations scalable and sustainable. Bringing in an experienced Operations Leader (COO) introduced new perspectives, tools, and processes, fostering a culture of quick adaptation and continual improvement.

COO’s Objectives

  • Assess the extent and status of the order book.
  • Prioritize customers based on order date, value, and migration complexity.
  • Redesign operations and processes for scalability.
  • Instill operational excellence and continuous improvement in the company culture.

What the COO Did

Provided Leadership and Strategic Insights

The COO conducted a review of the existing order fulfilment process from order signing to handover to support. Observing the process firsthand led to immediate changes and a roadmap for future improvements. The first basic step was creating a single view of the order backlog, transforming an Excel sheet into a Kanban board to illustrate the scale and direction of the issue.

Designed and Delivered a Transformational Change Culture

With a clear visualisation of the challenge, the COO established key performance indicators to track progress and refine processes during the redesign. They managed resources and planned ahead, setting new targets for customer installations to meet the CEO’s revenue recognition goals. Daily stand-up meetings injected pace and fostered open discussions for rapid process customization. Acting as an initiator, coach, and advisor, the COO ensured the team’s accountability for the changes and their results, enhancing order fulfilment efficiency.

The Results

  • Reduced lead times (6 to 2 months) by implementing a Lean organisational learning initiative. 
  • Maintained headcount to increase operational efficiencies by 38% 
  • Promoted ‘time to value’ and ‘reducing the customer effort’ as key concepts to direct the continual improvement energies contributing more than £1.2m ARR. 
  • Increased NPS as communications and timelines were improved.
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